


It's a Shuttle Thing

by naboru



Series: 28 Blast Offs [13]
Category: Transformers Generation One
Genre: Comedy, Fluff, Gen, Implied Relationships, M/M, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-01
Updated: 2014-01-01
Packaged: 2018-01-07 01:39:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1113983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/naboru/pseuds/naboru
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s a special anniversary for shuttles, and Blast Off can’t go to Altihex.</p><p>Vortex, Blast Off, unnamed OC / fluff, comedy, implied relationship, slice of life / PG</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's a Shuttle Thing

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [It's an Alpha Thing](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1099014) by [ultharkitty](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ultharkitty/pseuds/ultharkitty). 



> **Continuity:** G1 (part of ultharkitty’s [Dysfunction AU](http://community.livejournal.com/lost_carcosa/19574.html#cutid1)), pre-war  
>  **Warnings:** fluff, comedy, implied relationship, slice of life  
>  **Characters:** Vortex, Blast Off, unnamed OC  
>  **Disclaimer:** Sadly, I own nothing.  
>  **Beta:** ultharkitty
> 
>  **Note:** It’s a sort-of-sequel to ultharkitty’s [It's an Alpha Thing](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1099014), and has some Cybertron-TV program worldbuilding. :p

Vortex stepped out of the elevator and entered the hallway. It wasn’t busy, and the only mechs in the corridor were Blast Off and one of his staff that worked under him in the logistics department. They talked while Blast Off handed the grounder a datapad.

Vortex inwardly shrugged it off. He didn’t want to pay too much attention and be annoying. The shuttle had been quite busy the last quartex, and had been either in space, or had worked until late in the evening. Once Vortex had surprised him in his office, but had been thrown out. He still hadn’t really forgiven Blast Off for that.

Vortex nodded when he passed the two mechs, and almost jumped out of his frame when Blast Off spoke up.

“Vortex, please wait a moment.” The shuttle’s voice was blank, business-like, and tired.

Blast Off had been busy with inventory and paper stuff lately, the ‘copter wondered what he had to do to with it. He nodded again, and leant a bit away against the wall, waiting.

“The first two points need to be done tonight. If anything is unclear, ask, but not right at moment I plan on leaving. My schedule is accessible on appointments calendar,” Blast Off said to the other.

The grounder glanced up. He was new. Vortex hadn’t seen him often. He appeared quite young and intimidated by the shuttle.

Vortex grinned.

“Yes, Sir. I’ll get to it right away.” The grounder glanced at Vortex, then back at Blast Off and nodded enthusiastically before he went to the elevator.

With a sigh, Blast Off turned and came to Vortex.

“He’s new?” Vortex asked even though he knew the answer.

“His second day,” Blast Off replied. His tone was now even more exhausted, and Vortex resolution to be angry wavered.

“But that’s not what you wanted to talk about, is it?”

“No, it’s not.” Blast Off put his datapad away, and briefly looked at the clock that was over the elevator. “Do you have any plans for tonight?”

That was the last thing Vortex had expected. He forced himself not to show any surprise. It had been quite a while since he was with the shuttle, but Blast Off had been an aft.

“Actually, yes, I have.” It was a lie, but it wouldn’t hurt to string Blast Off along for some time.

“Oh,” Blast Off uttered. His ailerons didn’t click, and his shoulders didn’t slump, but they didn’t need to. The tone of the single expression carried enough meaning.

Vortex almost felt guilty. Almost. “What about you?” 

“No, nothing really.” Blast Off shrugged. “I mean I want to go home early for once, but nothing else.”

“I see,” Vortex said, watching Blast Off looking back at the clock and the elevator.

For a few moments, none of them spoke.

“Well, okay then,” Blast Off broke the silence, “I'd better get back to work or I'll have to stay longer anyway.” He nodded a goodbye, and turned, taking out his datapad again as he stepped towards the lift.

Vortex observed closely, his jaw clenching.

Blast Off was disappointed. But Vortex had been disappointed, too, when the shuttle had him kicked out.

Pushing himself off the wall, Vortex continued his way to his office. He probably only felt so weird because Blast Off was hardly ever disappointed.

Yeah, Vortex though, that must be it.

\---

Blast Off lay on his couch, the TV running in the background, but he didn’t pay it any heed.

At least he’d been able to leave work early. It just didn’t really matter, because now he was home he had nothing to do. Blast Off didn’t have even the strength to do much, but it would have been nice to do _something_. Anything that wasn’t lying bored on his couch.

He sighed. Maybe he should have flown to Altihex anyway. But it was too late to go now. He wouldn’t get a landing permission with this short notice. On any other day perhaps, but not today.

He laid an arm over his face, and sent a ping to his TV, turning the volume down.

Blast Off had known he wouldn’t fly to Altihex, and he should have asked Vortex sooner. But there had been so much work, and Blast Off forgot, or when he thought of it, the ‘copter had already been home.

Vortex probably wouldn’t have understood it anyway.

It was worthless mulling over it, Blast Off knew.

But that didn't stop him. He pondered on things until he fell into a light recharge.

A ping woke him up.

Blast Off’s leg twitched when his systems booted, and for the first few astroseconds he was confused. His engine revved, and he vented air deeply as he slowly got to his feet and scuffled to the door.

Pushing the button more forcefully than he intended, the door slid aside.

“Hey,” Vortex said cheerfully. He tilted his head. “Did I wake you up?”

“I, uh, not really. Kinda,” Blast Off muttered, rubbing over his battle mask and being a bit overwhelmed by all the apparent happiness. “What are you doing here?”

Vortex shrugged, his rotors moved with his shoulders. “I was in the area, and since you said you’d be home tonight, I thought I'd pay you a visit.”

“Oh,” Blast Off mumbled. He rebooted his optics; his processor still had to wake up fully. He’d been offline for almost two joors.

“You’re gonna let me in or what? I brought high grade.” Vortex’ visor flashed, and he raised his arm to show off a transparent crate with glowing cubes inside.

Blast Off nodded, and stepped aside to let Vortex pass. “What about your plans?”

“Cancelled,” Vortex said, and went to the couch. He knew his way around and made himself at home. “You’re watching TV without the sound? Isn’t that kinda defeating its purpose?”

Blast Off closed the door. “Don’t tell me you never did that. What high grade did you bring?”

He watched Vortex shuffle his rotors and sit down. “Just normal high grade. I got it from the store a few corners away.” The ‘copter took a cube and cracked it open.

Blast Off’s lips twitched to the tiniest grin behind his battle mask, and he stepped closer. Reaching into the crate, he also got himself high grade, but he didn’t sit.

Vortex looked at him as he sipped. “So, what did you watch before you muted the TV and fell into recharge?”

“Just the news and some early evening shows.” Blast Off drunk from his energon. “Sometimes I forget how awful they are, though.”

“Heh, so true. I wonder who those people are that can endure that, who even want to watch it regularly.”

Blast Off huffed amused. “Maybe you should use those kinds of programs for your work?” he suggested, and glanced at the storage room, pondering.

“Oh frag no! I want to make them talkative, not suicidal.” Vortex followed Blast Off’s look, tilting his head. “Well, not always. Anyway, what’s in there? You wanna get some other high grade?”

Blast Off shook his head. 

“What then?” The ‘copter straightened up, staring at the door, then back at Blast Off. “You know I’ll prod you until you tell me.”

Blast Off sighed. He should have known better, but he wasn’t really annoyed. He’d thought about getting them anyway.

“Fine, I’ll show you,” he said as though Vortex had actually convinced him. “But I expect you to not prod, poke or touch me tonight.”

“We’ll see if you still do after a few cubes of high grade.”

“Don’t get your hopes up.” Blast Off teased, and entered the storage room. He had to look for about a klik until he found the item, and came back with a purple box in his hand. Without a word, he put it on the table, and sat down on the couch, sideways, with the back rest at his side. Blast Off crossed his legs. “There, open it. You were curious.”

Vortex looked at him dubiously, a frown behind the visor. “Is that what I think it is?”

Carefully, as though it’d break when he touched it, he took the box, and opened it. Inside were small glowing dark red energon gel cubes, each worth about 500 credits.

“Whoah, holy fraggin’… frag!” Vortex said, visor gleaming.

“Your way of articulating your amazement is astonishing.” Blast Off replied, but he was entertained. The ‘copter turned the box carefully, and poked one of the gel cubes. It wobbled.

“Can I try one?”

“Sure.” Blast Off shrugged. “But I’m warning you: they’re awful.”

“Seriously? I can have one?” Vortex looked at him in disbelief.

“Well, if you don’t want to, I can understand. They really do taste like scrap.”

“I bet you’re only saying that to make me not want to eat one.” Vortex grinned, and took one of the red cube-shaped energon treats out of the box. Wordlessly, Blast Off reached for it and got one himself.

Excitedly, Vortex bit into the cube, Blast Off watching him closely, while eating his own.

It didn’t take long before the ‘copter grimaced. “What the frag.” He looked up at the shuttle, expression distorted in disappointment and repulsion. “They really are disgusting.”

Blast Off couldn’t suppress a soft chuckle. “I told you so.”

“But why are you eating it then?”

Staring at his half-eaten gel cube for a moment, Blast Off shrugged. “It’s something like a tradition.”

“An alpha thing?”

“No. More like a shuttle thing. But not every shuttle.”

Vortex didn’t respond. Like Blast Off, he nibbled more on the cube, looking at the shuttle quietly.

“Okay,” Vortex eventually broke the silence. “What is this about? You’re sharing five hundred cred a cube gel things with me which is apparently some shuttle tradition. So what’s the matter?”

“Nothing,” Blast Off defended himself. “Can’t I just share a cube with you?”

“A cube maybe, but not something like this. I know you too well.”

“Hmpf, you wouldn’t understand.” Blast Off puffed air from his vents in a defiant huff.

“Try me,” Vortex dared, then ate the last bit of the energon gel, and shuddered. He shook out his rotors, and his tail rotor blades twitched.

Now Blast Off wasn’t so sure if it had been a good idea to invite Vortex over, but he knew the ‘copter wouldn’t drop the topic. He sighed deeply. “Today is HEXagon. As in HEX. It’s the celebration of the anniversary of when HEX was put into commission.”

Vortex didn’t say anything. He just kept staring as though expecting Blast Off to continue.

The shuttle shifted uncomfortably on the couch. “That’s why it’s a tradition for us HEX shuttles to eat those,” Blast Off gestured at the expensive energon treats, “things.”

“If it’s a shuttle tradition,” Vortex finally said, sounding confused. “Shouldn’t you be, like, in Altihex?”

“Probably.” Blast Off shrugged. “Onslaught didn’t authorise my requested time off.” He shifted on the couch and leant against the back rest, putting a foot on the edge of the table. He took his high grade. “My batch mates couldn’t make it either, though. I guess it’s okay if I don’t go. I can go next vorn.” He shrugged once more.

If Blast Off was honest, he would have had to admit that he was disappointed. It probably wouldn’t have been the same with his batch mates not being there, but still…

From his peripheral vision, the shuttle saw Vortex pick up one of his own energon cubes and drink a fair bit.

They were quiet until Vortex started speaking again after a few kliks.

“Thanks for sharing that stuff with me, I guess. But I gotta ask, because I really don’t get it: why is eating stuff that tastes like slag a tradition?”

Blast Off had to grin. It had to seem bizarre to outsiders. “For HEXagon, Altihex always sent a special ration of those alpha caste energon gel treats to HEX. We only got to eat stuff like that around that cycle, otherwise energon, especially high grade, was pretty limited.” Blast Off huffed amused. “And we actually made fun of planet bound alphas shoving that into their mouths. Because who can seriously eat that?”

A smirk built on Vortex’ lips, and the ‘copter snickered. “That’s one weird tradition. I hope you realise that.”

Shaking his head, Blast Off idly hit Vortex on the shoulder shoulder. “Not weird. It’s _serious business_.”

“ _Right_. Very serious. Making fun of other alphas. But at least you shuttleformer seem to have _some_ sense of humour,” Vortex said teasingly.

“Hey, we can be very funny,” Blast Off insisted. “We just need to warm up to people.”

“And how long does that process take? Vorns?”

Blast Off shrugged, and answered with a fake seriousness. “Well, what can I say, time flows differently in space.”

“Arrogant aft-head.” Vortex laughed, and emptied his cube. Before Blast Off could reply the ‘copter continued. “Okay, so, seeing as it’s some special space station shuttle day, let’s watch PEX!”

“Oh frag, no!” Blast Off sat up. It was a show about Cybertronians living on a space station in the orbit of a gas giant. It was ridiculous.

“Oh, you know it? Have you ever watched it?” Vortex seemed nosy, and already pinged the TV to access the Cybertronian net to look it up.

“I watched like three kliks and then couldn’t endure it any longer.”

“Heh, awesome.” Vortex clapped his hands and helped himself to more high grade. “You can rant at it, and I’ll listen to you. I had to watch Tankbot with you, too.”

“Frag you,” Blast Off muttered and slid down the couch a little. “And it wasn't _me_ who wanted to watch Tankbot that time.” He sighed, covering his visor with his hand. “If I have to endure that, you eat more of that gel treats.”

“What?” Vortex turned to him. “Why?”

“Don’t look at me like that. I don’t want to keep them till next vorn. They’d probably go off before then.” Blast Off frowned at his own words, and added. “But then, they can’t get any worse…”

“Hardly.” Vortex shuddered, then he perked up. “Oh, it's starting.”

“Vector Sigma,” Blast Off muttered as the first images of the cast and setting appeared in the intro. The music was awful, and the rest even worse. “Look at this space station. That’s not how a space station looks. I need more high grade!”

Vortex laughed.


End file.
